Edward J. O'Brien
Edward Joseph Harrington O'Brien (1890-1941) was an American poet, prose author, and anthologist. He was noted for compiling an annual collection of short stories by U.S. authors, The Best American Short Stories.Edward Joseph Harrington O'Brien, Wikipedia, February 5, 2016. Web, Sep. 17, 2018. Life O'Brien graduated from high school at age 16. He attended Boston College and Harvard University, but dropped out, resolving “to educate myself as long as life lasted.”Christian Laurentzen, "Cam Short Stories Still Shock?," Vulture, January 7, 2016. Web, Sep. 17, 2018. He became the protagonist of poet and critic William Stanley Braithwaite, who wrote an annual survey of poetry for the Boston Evening Transcript. The newspaper hired O'Brien to write a similar survey of short stories. O'Brien conceived the idea of an annual anthology of American short stories, and the initial volume of The Best Short Stories was published in Boston in 1915. The series was a success, continuing until 1941 (the final volume being published posthumously in his name), and made O'Brien a "celebrity anthologist" and a sought-after public speaker. He stayed out of World War I due to a bad heart. He gave early encouragement to writers such as Sherwood Anderson, Ernest Hemingway, and William Saroyan,Edward J. O'Brien and His Role in the Rise of the Short Story, Google Books. Web, Sep. 17, 2018. anthologizing Hemingway's story "My Old Man" before it had been printed in a periodical. He corresponded with James Joyce and Ezra Pound. By the end of his life, O'Brien was working for Hollywood, and confining his literary efforts to 2 nights a week. Publications Poetry *''White Fountains: Odes and lyrics. Boston: Small, Maynard, 1917. *Distant Music. Boston: Small Maynard, 1921. Fiction *The Forgotten Threshhold: A journal of Arthur Middleton. New York: E.P. Dutton, 1919.The Forgotten Threshhold: A journal of Arthur Middleton (c.1919), Internet Archive. Web, Mar. 30, 2013. *''Elizabethan Tales. Boston: Houghton, 1937. Non-fiction *''An Interesting Discovery''. Boston: 1908. *''The Advance of the American Short Story''. New York: Dodd, Mead, 1923. *''Hard Sayings''. Boston: Small, Maynard, 1926. *''Son of the Morning: A portrait of Friedrich Nietzsche''. New York: Robert A. Baillou, 1932. Edited *''Poems of the Irish Revolutionary Brotherhood'' (edited with Padraic Colum). Boston: Small, Maynard, 1916. *''The Masque of Poets: A collection of new poems by contemporary American poets. New York: Dodd, Mead, 1918. *The Great Modern English Stories: An anthology. New York: Boni & Liveright, 1919. *''Modern English Short Stories. London: Jonathan Cape, 1930. *''The Twenty-five Finest Short Stories''. New York: R.R. Smith, 1931. *''English Short Stories of Today''. London: Jonathan Cape, 1934. *''The Short Story Case Book''. New York: Farrar & Rinehart, 1935. *''New English Short Stories''. London: Jonathan Cape, 1936. *''50 Best American Short Stories 1915-1939''. New York: Literary Guild of America, 1939. *''Selected English Short Stories''. London: Jonathan Cape, 1940. Best Short Stories *''The Best Short Stories, and the Yearbook of the American short story''. Boston: Small, Maynard, 1915. *''The Best Short Stories of 1915, and the Yearbook of the American short story. Boston: Small, Maynard, 1916. *''The Best Short Stories of 1916, and the Yearbook of the American short story. Boston: Small, Maynard, 1917. *''The Best Short Stories of 1917, and the Yearbook of the American short story. Boston: Small, Maynard, 1918. *The Best Short Stories of 1918, and the Yearbook of the American short story. Boston: Small, Maynard, 1919. *The Best Short Stories of 1919, and the Yearbook of the American short story. Boston: Small, Maynard, 1920. *The Best Short Stories of 1920, and the Yearbook of the American short story. Boston: Small, Maynard, 1921. *The Best Short Stories of 1921, and the Yearbook of the American short story. Boston: Small, Maynard, 1922. *The Best British Short Stories of 1922 (with John Cournos). Boston: Small, Maynard, 1922. *''The Best Short Stories of 1922, and the Yearbook of the American short story. Boston: Small, Maynard, 1923. *''The Best British Short Stories of 1923, and the Yearbook of the British short story. Boston: Small, Maynard, 1923. *''The Best Short Stories of 1923, and the Yearbook of the American short story. Boston: Small, Maynard, 1924. *''The Best Short Stories of 1924, and the Yearbook of the American short story''. Boston: Small, Maynard, 1925. *''The Best Short Stories of 1925, and the Yearbook of the American short story''. Boston: Small, Maynard, 1926. *''The Best Short Stories of 1926, and the Yearbook of the American short story''. New York: Dodd, Mead, 1926. *''The Best Short Stories of 1926 I: English (with an Irish supplement). London: Jonathan Cape, 1927. *''The Best Short Stories of 1927, and the Yearbook of the American short story. New York: Dodd, Mead, 1927. *''The Best British Short Stories of 1927 (with an Irish supplement). New York: Dodd, 1927. *''The Best Short Stories of 1927 I: English (with an Irish supplement). London: Jonathan Cape, 1928. *''The Best Short Stories of 1928, and the Yearbook of the American short story''. New York: Dodd, Mead, 1928. *''The Best British Short Stories of 1928, with an Irish and colonial supplement''. New York: Dodd, Mead, 1928. *''The Best Short Stories of 1929, and the Yearbook of the American short story''. New York: Dodd, Mead, 1929. *''The Best Short Stories of 1930, and the Yearbook of the American short story''. New York: Dodd, Mead, 1930. *''The Best Short Stories of 1931, and the Yearbook of the American short story''. New York: Dodd, Mead, 1931. *''The Best British Short Stories of 1931''. New York: Dodd, Mead, 1931. *''The Best Short Stories of 1932, and the Yearbook of the American short story''. New York: Dodd, Mead, 1932. *''The Best Short Stories of 1933, and the Yearbook of the American short story''. Boston & New York: Houghton Mifflin, 1933. *''The Best Short Stories of 1934, and the Yearbook of the American short story''. Boston & New York: Houghton Mifflin, 1934. *''The Best Short Stories, 1934: English and American''. London: Jonathan Cape, 1934. *''The Best Short Stories of 1935, and the Yearbook of the American short story''. Boston & New York: Houghton Mifflin, 1935. *''The Best Short British Stories of 1935, and the Yearbook of the British, Irish, and colonial short story''. London: Jonathan Cape, 1935. *''The Best Short Stories, 1935: English and American''. London: Jonathan Cape, 1935. *''The Best Short Stories of 1936, and the Yearbook of the American short story''. Boston & New York: Houghton Mifflin, 1936. *''The Best Short British Stories of 1936, and the Yearbook of the British, Irish, and colonial short story''. Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1936. *''The Best Short Stories of 1937, and the Yearbook of the American short story''. Boston & New York: Houghton Mifflin, 1937. *''The Best Short Stories of 1938, and the Yearbook of the American short story''. Boston & New York: Houghton Mifflin, 1938. *''The Best Short Stories, 1938: English and American''. London: Jonathan Cape, 1938. *''The Best Short Stories, 1939, and the Yearbook of the American short story''. Boston & New York: Houghton Mifflin, 1939. *''The Best Short Stories, 1939: English and American''. London: Jonathan Cape, 1939. *''The Best Short Stories, 1940, and the Yearbook of the American short story''. Boston & New York: Houghton Mifflin, 1940. *''The Best Short Stories, 1940: English and American''. London: Jonathan Cape, 1941. *''The Best Short Stories, 1941, and the Yearbook of the American short story''. Boston & New York: Houghton Mifflin, 1941. Except where noted, bibliographical information courtesy WorldCat.Search results = Edward J. O'Brien, WorldCat, Online Computer Library Center OCLC Inc. Web, Mar. 30, 2013. See also *List of U.S. poets References External links ;Poems *"The Piping Mountainy Man ;Books * *Works by Edward Joseph Harrington O'Brien at Internet Archive *Edward J. O'Brien at Amazon.com Category:American book editors Category:American poets Category:1890 births Category:1941 deaths Category:20th-century poets Category:Anthologists Category:English-language poets Category:Poets